Spoiler Alert - OMG The Dems Debate
November 16th, 2007 by Carbon CoalitionThe Democrats gathered last night in Las Vegas for another debate. Once again, the cable network host du jour guided a debate more focused on candidate in-fighting than important issues like climate change. CNN’s tragic tabloid coverage only allowed two of the seven candidates to discuss climate change.
Barack Obama and Bill Richardson were the only participants asked about energy related issues, specifically Nevada’s nuclear waste storage facility Yucca Mountain. Read the entire transcript.
Obama made clear that he did not support Yucca Mountain and affirmed that nuclear is not our best energy option, but it has to be “part of our energy mix.” Obama turned his attention to climate change and emissions reduction:
“We have a genuine crisis that has to be addressed and as president, I intend to address it, and here’s what we have to do. We have to, first of all, cap greenhouse gases, because climate change is real. And it’s going to impact Nevada and it’s impacting the entire planet. That means that we’re going to have to tell polluters, we are going to charge you money when you send pollution into the air, that’s creating climate change. That money we can then reinvest in solar, in wind, in biodiesel, in clean coal technology and in superior nuclear technology.”
Moderator Wolf Blitzer followed up and pressured Obama on what he would do with nuclear waste assuming there is no scientific breakthrough for superior nuclear technology.
“Well, right now it is on site in many situations, and that is not the optimal situation, Wolf.” Obama countered, “But don’t keep on assuming that we can’t do something. I mean, this is about the third time where you said, ‘assuming we can’t do it, what’s our option?’ Well, but I’m running for president because I think we can do it.”
“Wolf, Wolf” inturupted Bill Richardson trying to get into the energy discussion near the end of Obama’s response. Blitzer turned to Richardson with the Yucca Mountain question. Richardson stated: “First, the future is renewable. It’s not oil, it’s not coal, it’s not nuclear.” He assured the Nevada crowd that he was against Yucca Mountain as Energy Secretary and he is against Yucca Mountain as a presidential candidate.
Richardson took a minute to discuss his climate and energy plan:
“There’s a technological solution, a scientific solution. What I would do, I would turn Yucca Mountain into a national laboratory. We have the greatest brains, our national lab scientists. We need to find a way to safely dispose of nuclear waste. There is a technological solution.
But while we do that, we shouldn’t be giving the nuclear power industry all of these advantages in the Senate bills that are coming forth, or subsidies. Oil, coal and nuclear are getting most of the subsidies.
We need an energy revolution in this country — to shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources by 50 percent by the year 2020. Eighty percent reduction of greenhouse emissions, a mandate. We need to have 30 percent of our electricity renewable.
And it’s got to be also the American people — I’m going to say this honestly — sacrificing a little bit when it comes to appliances — and when it comes to being part of an energy efficiency revolution.”
Just as the climate discussion was heating up CNN’s Campbell Brown like totally changed course to question Senator Clinton about the ’boys club’ drama.
SPOILER ALERT :)
